Chilly week-end, December 12, 2010

[Soapweed]

Saturday, cold and windy, with a couple inches of new snow that came during the night

Glad we Bangs vaccinated these heifers on Friday.

When it was nice, with temperatures in the mid-40's and very little wind.

Bred heifers on hay

They are enjoying life on the JF Ranch for the next month or so.

I bought 61 of these one-brand heifers at a calf sale a year ago.

Cold water but at least it is not ice

Shadows on the hills

Soaking up sunshine

Nothing on his mind but his Stetson. That cowboy doesn't know how close he and his horses came to getting clobbered by a cougar. :roll: :wink:

 

[gcreekrch]

Cattle look good Soapweed.

Country looks cold!

Are you going to send all your heifer calves to custom feed or will you winter some at home?

 

[Soapweed]

Cattle look good Soapweed.

Country looks cold!

Are you going to send all your heifer calves to custom feed or will you winter some at home?

Haven't decided yet. So far, about 40% of our heifer calves are on a winter deal where we are paying $1.00 per head per day. The other 60% of the heifer calves are here at home getting about fifteen pounds of $50 per ton hay each day, and about a pound of $214 per ton 20% protein cake per day. Guess this figures out to about 50 cents per head per day not counting our time, diesel, and wear and tear on feed pickups. The calves at home seem to be doing well, and I'm sure the calves put out for the winter are also doing well. As calving time draws nearer, it will be more tempting to let someone else care for the heifer calves that are here at home.

 

[salt grass flats]

Good looking heifers and the two yr. olds are really looking good too.
Must be that good ole sandhill meadow hay and the cake.
Have missed your pictures, good to see you are posting again.
$1.00 a day for your calves is a bargain the way grain has come up
Costing me about 40 cents just for the grain. and they dont look any better than yours.

 

[Soapweed]

Good looking heifers and the two yr. olds are really looking good too.
Must be that good ole sandhill meadow hay and the cake.
Have missed your pictures, good to see you are posting again.
$1.00 a day for your calves is a bargain the way grain has come up
Costing me about 40 cents just for the grain. and they dont look any better than yours.

Glad you liked the pics. Here are a few more taken today.

Calling heifer calves to a new location

They seem to be cooperating.

Strung out and on the move

Later in the day

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

Looks like you had a nice day.

 

[Soapweed]

Looks like you had a nice day.

It was a beautiful day, about 45 degrees for a high and light winds.

 

[Justin]

just curious, why so many different tag colors?

 

[Soapweed]

just curious, why so many different tag colors?

It's just the code of "our" west. :wink:

Red tags are from baldy cows, yellow tags mean the calf was from an older Angus cow. Purple signifies the calf was from a 4 year-brand Angus, green from a 5 year-brand Angus, orange from a 6 year-brand, white from a 7 year-brand, pink from an 8 year-brand, and blue are from Kosmo's kows. Complicated, but it all means something to us. :?

 

[gcreekrch]

just curious, why so many different tag colors?

To confuse everyone but the Spearhead outfit. :wink:

A buck a day is cheap Soapweed, as Salt Grass Flats wrote, our pellets are .11 per lb delivered here. At 3 lbs per day plus mineral and hay we are at $1.40 plus our tractor and time.

Isn't raising your own heifers rewarding? :?

 

[Soapweed]

just curious, why so many different tag colors?

To confuse everyone but the Spearhead outfit. :wink:

A buck a day is cheap Soapweed, as Salt Grass Flats wrote, our pellets are .11 per lb delivered here. At 3 lbs per day plus mineral and hay we are at $1.40 plus our tractor and time.

Isn't raising your own heifers rewarding? :?

This is one of the things I enjoy most about ranching--watching nice home-raised heifer calves grow up to be efficient good producing cows.

 

[gcreekrch]

just curious, why so many different tag colors?

To confuse everyone but the Spearhead outfit. :wink:

A buck a day is cheap Soapweed, as Salt Grass Flats wrote, our pellets are .11 per lb delivered here. At 3 lbs per day plus mineral and hay we are at $1.40 plus our tractor and time.

Isn't raising your own heifers rewarding? :?

This is one of the things I enjoy most about ranching--watching nice home-raised heifer calves grow up to be efficient good producing cows.

Me too. I guess good cattle don't come cheap any way you get them. :wink:

 

[Justin]

just curious, why so many different tag colors?

It's just the code of "our" west. :wink:

Red tags are from baldy cows, yellow tags mean the calf was from an older Angus cow. Purple signifies the calf was from a 4 year-brand Angus, green from a 5 year-brand Angus, orange from a 6 year-brand, white from a 7 year-brand, pink from an 8 year-brand, and blue are from Kosmo's kows. Complicated, but it all means something to us. :?

Peach must need cheat sheet up her sleve like those NFL QBs :wink:

 

[Soapweed]

just curious, why so many different tag colors?

It's just the code of "our" west. :wink:

Red tags are from baldy cows, yellow tags mean the calf was from an older Angus cow. Purple signifies the calf was from a 4 year-brand Angus, green from a 5 year-brand Angus, orange from a 6 year-brand, white from a 7 year-brand, pink from an 8 year-brand, and blue are from Kosmo's kows. Complicated, but it all means something to us. :?

Peach must need cheat sheet up her sleve like those NFL QBs :wink:

Does NFL mean "not for long"? Since Peach makes all the tags, she figures out the system pretty fast. :wink: Remember, my job is just to take pictures.

 

[strawking]

A buck a day is a good deal, I just got the feed bill for the steers, 2.50 a day! But they are getting pushed pretty hard, will be fat by late april. Im feeding the lighter calves at home 5 lbs. of DDG and ground wheat hay. I hope they are gaining 2 lb/day at a cost of 80 cents/hd/day